After the crisis in 2024, New Caledonia is aiming to reinvent itself, unite its energies and build a genuine tourism industry for the future – serving as a lever for economic diversification.
To achieve this, the government plans to significantly strengthen the territory’s international promotion through a coordinated approach involving both public and private stakeholders.
“New Caledonia must move forward today despite the difficulties,” said Christopher Gygès, a member of the government in charge of economic attractiveness.
“Moving forward together, with public and private actors, shows that our plan is both ambitious and realistic, enabling the creation of wealth in New Caledonia – something we urgently need at the moment.”
In its best-performing year since the pandemic, 2023, the destination welcomed more than 126,000 tourists, excluding cruise passengers.
Tourism must once again become a driver of sustainable growth, job creation and international visibility for the entire country, while deeply transforming its DNA: moving upmarket, diversifying offerings and positioning itself in high-value-added markets.
This ambition requires a shared commitment from local authorities, airlines, hoteliers, service providers, banks, chambers of commerce and training institutions around a common vision: showcasing New Caledonia’s assets internationally.
This proactive and ambitious recovery strategy will take shape through:
- a concrete action plan for the first 100 days to immediately kick-start the recovery dynamic
- a strategic framework extending to 2032, designed to build a sustainable, clear model capable of consistently reaching the 250,000-visitor threshold
- a strong, unifying identity to embody this new momentum.
“The tourism sector represents a genuine industry of the future,” added Mr Gygès.
“The government will propose increasing the international promotion budget from 250 to at least 400 million francs. The goal is to reach nearly 700 million francs by the end of 2026 and then gradually increase it to one billion francs.”
Australia will be one of the countries that will receive a significant increase in New Caledonia’s international promotion budget.
Officials are also looking at hosting a major audio visual production (TV series or national game show) from 2026, offering exceptional media exposure for the territory.
Improving air connectivity is another key area and the government will be looking to encourage the arrival of new regional and international airlines, along with getting partners to implement proactive pricing policies in priority markets such as Australia.
Supporting new accommodation and tourism offerings, strengthening infrastructure and developing sports tourism are also on the agenda.
A new tourism brand will also be created to replace the current “Pacifique au cœur” (New Caledonia, Pacific heart) brand, adopted in 2010.
Images courtesy New Caledonia Tourism
